Young Australian of the Year

Nominee

2019 NSW Young Australian of the Year Nominee

Mr Gidon Goodman

State: New South Wales

A passionate activist at age 16, Gidon has run two national campaigns on important health issues. He successfully achieved relief from expensive hospital parking fees for families in NSW. Now Gidon is advocating for a national approach to screening newborns babies for treatable conditions to prevent unnecessary illness and deaths.

A passionate activist at age 16, Gidon Goodman has run two national campaigns on important health issues, despite suffering from a rare blood disorder himself.

In 2016, Gidon began campaigning on the issue of expensive hospital parking fees. After achieving 70,000 petition signatures and appearing in over a dozen media publications and TV programs, he had the opportunity to meet with senior politicians to win their support. He succeeded: today, families in NSW pay around $20 per week for hospital parking, instead of $200 per week.

Gidon is now advocating for a national approach to screening newborn babies for treatable conditions. Australia currently screens for just half the number of conditions as the US – which means that babies with rare conditions are not being diagnosed – resulting in unnecessary illness, disability and deaths.

Gidon is also a founding member and head of advocacy for the Gaucher Association of Australia and New Zealand, which supports people, like Gideon, with Gaucher disease.